2006 Rogue Women’s Triathlon

I had a good race today at the Rogue Women's Tri!

Here's the short version:
I kicked ass on the swim, was a little too conservative on the bike, but had a really good run. My transitions were fast and smooth, there were no major mishaps and I felt great afterward.

Pre-Race

Once again, my day began at 5 AM. Usually I have the "What the hell am I thinking?" line going through my head at 5 AM in the morning before a race. Usually that voice goes away while I'm getting ready. This morning it didn't go away for a long long time (just about until I hit the water at the start of the race).

We arrived at the site a little later than I had wanted. We parked and I found a place in transition to rack my bike (though slots were filling up fast). I set up my stuff and then headed out to get body marked. After being marked upon, we waited in the long line at the port-a-potties, then I got my timing chip. After that, I took a quick dip in the water in an attempt to warm up. I mostly just waded and treaded a little water.

Swim

The race was fairly on time (starting about 3 minutes late). I was in the third wave which started around 8:13. This race was a dry start which means we began on land, then rushed into the water and across the timing mat which started each of our times. The swim felt so fast for me. It did a little breast stroking, but not nearly as much as usual. I got out of the water and looked down at my watch. I said a little over 8 minutes. My best goal was 12 minutes. It didn't seem real to me, but then I realized my heart rate monitor said 189 (at my heart rate stress test they measured my max heart rate at 191) and I realized I must have just pushed really hard and had some crazy adrenaline-fueled swim.

T1

In a daze I ran up to transition, crossing the timing mat on the way (so my official time came in at 9 minutes) and waving at Roger as I went. I felt a little dizzy so I tried to walk a bit to transition, but I was too excited. I found my bike (small races are really so much easier to deal with) and got all my bike stuff on. As I put on my second shoe, I realized I forgot to dry off that foot. Oh well, it was too late at that point. I put on my helmet and headed for the bike exit.

Bike

I was really really conservative on my bike. Too conservative as it would turn out. I was so nervous about the big hill at the end and the hills in the middle that I really didn't push hard at all on the flats and downhills (I monitored using my heart rate - keeping it below a certain level). In the end, I could have gone harder and I'm a little bummed I didn't push myself a little more. I was just nervous about running out of energy for that last huge hill because it was really windy out there and sunny and getting warmer by the minute. Very different conditions from last weekend when I rode the course. We did the course in 53 minutes last weekend. Today I came in at 58 minutes. I would have loved to have done it in 55 or less, but I just didn't push it. As I came up that last big hill, it seemed so much easier than last week and I had a lot of leg power left. As it turns out, maybe it was actually a good thing because I had a lot left for the run.

T2

T2 went really smoothly. I took a moment to drink a bit of water and sports drink before heading out. I'm glad I took the few extra seconds because I think it helped and it didn't seem to adversely affect my transition time.

Run

The run was really weird for the first half mile or so. It was over rocks (big rocks!), gravel, grass, mud, and hardened dried mud with tractor tracks in it (which made it hard to run on). It was really quite technical and I had to watch my footing carefully. Finally, I came out onto the road and started a long gradual uphill climb for the next mile. The good news was that it was an out and back course so I got to run down that hill for the last half of the race. I stopped and walked only at each of the water stops. I can't drink water while running. It always goes down the wrong pipe. Other than the water stops, there was no walking for me today and I ran a really good time of 35:17. My GPS measured the course at 3.1 which puts me at an 11:22 minute mile, they stated the course at 3 miles exactly which makes it a 11:46 minute mile. Either way, I'm happy with that. It's only a minute faster than my best 5k and at the end of a really fast swim and a longer bike than I've done at the other two triathlons, I'm pretty darn happy.

Post-Race

My total time came in at 1:45:56 which puts me at 221st out of 413 women. I think that's actually pretty respectable for only my third triathlon. I was 52nd out of 95 in my age group.

Here are my final times:
500 m swim - 9:00.90 1:48/M 35 out of 95 in age group
T1 - 1:49
14.8 mile bike - 58:06.40 15.3 mph 53 out of 95 in age group
T2 - 1:41
3 mile run - 35:17.90 11:46/mi 62 out of 95 in age group
Total - 1:45:56

I beat my "Best" swim goal by 3 minutes (crazy!!!). I beat by "Best" T1 goal by over a minute. My bike was in between my "Good" and "Better" goals. My T2 was right about on target with my "Best" goal (I beat the goal by 20 seconds) and my run was pretty much exactly my "Best" goal (17 seconds longer).

My only complaint about the race and logistics of the event was the post-race food. I think they were trying to spice things up by having burgers/veggie burgers, chips, soda, etc. All I wanted at 10:00 in the morning after exerting myself for nearly 2 hours was a banana, half a bagel, maybe a half a Clif bar and some sports drink. None of that (which is pretty traditional post-race fare) was to be found.

I had a post-race recovery drink mix in the car so I made that up. I keep getting samples of the stuff in race packets. As it turns out it tasted gross so I only drank half of it, but it was loaded with carbs and protein which is what I needed for my post-race fuel. I had some sports drink and water to wash it down. When we got home I had two pieces of toast and some grapes for something a little more substantial.

The food aside, all in all, it was a really fun, laid back and warm race. I'm hoping they have it again next year because I will definitely be back! (But I'm brining my own banana!)